FANS HAVE TO PAY FOR MAYWEATHER VS PAC WEIGH-IN
Las Vegas, NV-In an unprecedented move, it is rumored that “all” fans will have to pony up ten George Washington’s to see the fighters step on the scale. That’s right 10 bucks! As per tradition, weigh-ins have always been free to the public and media. In this case, the fans who don’t possess the exorbitant amount of dollars to pay for tickets to go to the fight (more on that later), this is their only chance to see the fighters first hand.
Is Floyd Mayweather Jr. guilty of greed?
This trend first began when Floyd last fought Marcos Maidana. Tickets were sold and given away on the radio for some of the seats in the arena. The seats at the very top were free to the public. It’s possible that this money will be used for a charitable cause, but don’t bet on it!
TICKETS NOT YET ON SALE
The fight is less than three weeks away and tickets are still not available. This appears to be a ploy to drive up their market value. Rumors are that only a small number of these tickets will go on sale to the general public. The majority of the remaining tickets will be given to Floyd and his respective team (which includes adviser Al Haymon) to go and sell on the secondary market for big bucks.
OBVIOUS “BOTTOM LINE” SUPERCEDES ALL
It appears that their mission here is to squeeze every drop out of the buying public. It’s their prerogative to do so, but some of this greed may come back and blow up in Floyd’s face if somehow the overall numbers don’t do as expected.
NO FANS ALLOWED AT ONLY PRESS GALA
Fans in Los Angeles came out in droves and loitered outside of the Nokia Theater for Floyd and Manny’s press conference last month. Unfortunately the event was for media only.
FLOYD-PAC PPV WORTH $100 CLAMS?
In fact Floyd didn’t even show up on time last week to his own media day at the Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas. Scheduled to show up at 3pm, he didn’t arrive until almost 4:30. Many media members and fans showed up as early at 2pm. Most of those fans just wanted to get a glimpse of their favorite prizefighter.
IS THIS PROMOTION ON RIGHT TRACK?
While Floyd did give the majority of the media one on one interviews and was very cordial after his arrival, one still has to question how this promotion is being run. If you want to enjoy the accolades as a promoter, you must also have to endure criticism.
BACKHAND SLAP BY FLOYD, ET AL
While not allowing fans to attend the press conference can’t be considered greed, it could be viewed as arrogance or just plain ignorance on behalf of the fighter and promoter.
IS THIS WORTH $100 DOLLAR PPV?
As has been reported by a number of outlets, the PPV for what is perceived as the biggest money fight in boxing history is around $40 dollars more than the usual $60 dollar price tag. In my view the price is reasonable considering the magnitude of this event, but still could be viewed as a greedy move on not just Mayweather, but everyone involved in the promotion including the cable companies.
TOO MANY COOKS SCENARIO
Considering HBO and Showtime networks are involved in a co-promotion and both entities must split parts of their revenues, this may be the reason for this decision. In this case I side with Floyd. With so many cooks in the kitchen this may have been a necessary move.
IS THE MAYWEATHER VS PACQUIAO PPV WORTH $100?
YES
NO
MAYWEATHER GUILTY OF GREED?
While many of what has been stated might be viewed as an attempt to blast Mayweather, he has to take responsibility here seeing he is the lead promoter of this event. Much of what has been done during this promotion seems peculiar. When you consider that it’s the fans that essentially pay his bills, this effort to alienate them is unwarranted and in fact can be viewed as a sign of greed.
DID “BIG AL” CALL THESE SHOTS
While this can also be viewed as Floyd and his advisor Mr Haymon being astute businessmen, the main concern here is the fans who have appeared to have been left out of this promotion all together.
CELEBS & HIGH ROLLERS GOT MAJORITY OF SEATS
One source said Wednesday that he heard that after all the Las Vegas casinos had purchased their alotment, that were fewer than 2,500 seats available to the general public. Maybe that’s why they could care less about the fans as there will be few of them live at the MGM Grand anyway.
Kevin Perry
MAYWEATHER GREED HAS GONE TOO FAR